ST ''Sea Alarm'' was a 263-ton

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

which was built as ''Empire Ash'' in 1941 for the British

Ministry of War Transport The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transpor ...

(MoWT). She was sold in 1947 and renamed ''Flying Fulmar''. She was sold in 1956 and renamed ''Sea Alarm''. On retirement in 1973 she became an exhibit at the

Welsh Industrial and Maritime Museum The Welsh Industrial and Maritime Museum was located in Butetown, Cardiff, Wales, prior to the Cardiff Bay regeneration in the late 1990s. The museum formed part of the National Museums and Galleries of Wales, now known as Amgueddfa Cymru – N ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

, but was controversially scrapped in 1998 after the closure of the museum.

History

''Empire Ash'' was built by

John Crown & Sons Ltd John Crown & Sons Ltd, was a British shipbuilding company founded in 1847 and based on the River Wear, Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Hist ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

as yard number 201. She was launched on 13 August 1941 and completed on 17 October 1941. She was built for the MoWT. On 15 May 1946, ''Empire Ace'' was sold for £18,750 to Clyde Shipping Co. Ltd,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

and renamed ''Flying Fulmar''. In May 1956 she was sold to C. J. King & Sons,

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

, and renamed ''Sea Alarm''. She was operated under the management of the Alarm Steam Tug Co. Ltd. In January 1973 she was sold to

Thos. W. Ward Thos. W. Ward Ltd was a Sheffield, Yorkshire, steel, engineering and cement business, which began as coal and coke merchants. It expanded into recycling metal for Sheffield's steel industry, and then the supply and manufacture of machinery. I ...

Briton Ferry Briton Ferry ( cy, Llansawel) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. The Welsh name may indicate that the church, ''llan'', is protected from the wind, ''awel''. Alternatively, ''Sawel'' may be a derivative ...

, for scrapping, but was resold the following month to the Welsh Industrial and Maritime Museum in Cardiff. She was restored by 1978 and was dry-docked for many years at Roath Dock. The museum closed on 1 June 1998 and ''Sea Alarm'' was scrapped apart from her engine. Questions were asked by the

Select committee on Welsh Affairs The Welsh Affairs Select Committee (or simply the 'Welsh Affairs Committee') is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and polic ...

about the scrapping of the tug as there was public outcry at the time.

Official Number and code letters

''Empire Ash'' had the UK

Official Number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats have sometimes ...

168694 and used the

Code Letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids and today also. Later, with the i ...

BCRK. Official Numbers were a forerunner to

IMO Numbers IMO or Imo may refer to: Biology and medicine * Irish Medical Organisation, the main organization for doctors in the Republic of Ireland * Intelligent Medical Objects, a privately held company specializing in medical vocabularies * Isomaltoolig ...

. ''Sea Alarm'' was subsequently assigned IMO number 5315943.

References

External links

Ships Nostalgia
thread about ''Sea Alarm'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Sea Alarm Ships built on the River Wear 1941 ships Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of the United Kingdom Tugboats of the United Kingdom Museum ships in the United Kingdom History of Cardiff